Too judgmental?

[moral_agnostic]

My son plays 6th grade football with the local parochial school. I help coach, along with three others. I have difficulties with one of the coaches. Not personal. We get along. But, he was the former mayor of the neighboring city. He was forced to resign from office, fined $20,000, and is on four years probation for ethics violations. He barely avoided a jail sentence.

I have a problem with him being a role model for young people, and know that he could not, or would have a very difficult time, being credentialed to teach or coach at a public school with his conviction. I have had a few players ask me if “coach is going to jail?”

Am I being to judgmental. My thoughts are we could, and should, do better when it comes to picking role models.

 

[EasterJoy]

Did this fellow pass his background check with your diocese? If there are no background checks, then as part of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, there probably ought to be. You can ask at the school. If this individual passed the background check that is normally required of anyone seeking to work with youth, you can let the legal issues go. If there is no background check for volunteers, ask about that with the diocesan superintendent of schools. Your school or local CYO may be in noncompliance with the Charter.

If you find a coach for youth sports who has passed the background check and conducts himself appropriately on the field and maintains an unfailingly positive attitude towards the athletes he coaches, then you can say this: “If anyone doesn’t follow the rules or acts in a way that makes you uncomfortable, I want you to tell me about that no matter who it is, OK? Otherwise, what Coach X did four years ago is not any of our business.”

It is also being a role model, after all, to let someone repent and amend their lives, and to model the concept of refusing to be a busybody. It may be reasonable that this fellow never be allowed to be the treasurer of the group, if he has a serious violation of financial trust in his past, but that doesn’t mean he is totally unreliable in every way.

 

[1ke]

I think you are on target. I find it hard to believe he could pass a background check either. Seems odd that he would be hired at a Catholic school with, what, a felony conviction?

 

[angell1]

has he ever conducted himself inappropriately in his role as coach. if not, i wouldn’t go drudging up someone’s past. people change. remeber st. paul? i would do a background check, inverview the person and then make a judgment, if i did decide to hire him, he would be notifyed that any unacceptable behaviour would not be tolaterd. it also depends on the crime and the job. case by case judgment i would think

 

[Cupofkindness]

I’m assuming that this man has a 6th grade son on the football team. He is probably very anxious to be a good role model to his own son after his mistakes, by making a commitment to the team, and to hope to be respected by the other adults and the kids on the team in spite of his highly visible past.

People do learn from their mistakes, though it takes years to recover the ground lost in some cases. By showing this man respect and offering friendship, you are making his and his son’s world better place you are being Christ to him. Thank you for allowing him to have a second chance.

 

[Bonnie]

“Ethics” covers a lot of territory, not just sex crimes. Apparently he didn’t molest children, or he wouldn’t be a coach.

I know a few ex-cons - some learned from the experience, some didn’t. Maybe he learned from getting caught and paying the penalty.

If you want to know a bit about my sordid past - I spent a few days in jail over 40 years ago. Does that make me a bad role model?

 

[moral_agnostic]

He was a coach last year, and background checks are good for two or three years (so I am told) and he has not had a new one since his difficulties which were only concluded some three months ago. The charges basically dealt with taking kickbacks from a city contractor and also with buying properties in foreclosure and then pushing through zoning changes that allowed him to make 100s of 1,000s. He faced felony charges and plead down to 1st degree misdemeanor charges. Basically, he had the $$ and the legal representation to get him out from under it in the best possible shape. He has never apologized to city council or the tax payers who got the bill for a two-year investigation.

 

[EasterJoy]

He was a coach last year, and background checks are good for two or three years (so I am told) and he has not had a new one since his difficulties which were only concluded some three months ago. The charges basically dealt with taking kickbacks from a city contractor and also with buying properties in foreclosure and then pushing through zoning changes that allowed him to make 100s of 1,000s. He faced felony charges and plead down to 1st degree misdemeanor charges. Basically, he had the $$ and the legal representation to get him out from under it in the best possible shape. He has never apologized to city council or the tax payers who got the bill for a two-year investigation.

The only thing I can suggest is to ask whoever is in charge of the background checks if they are aware of the issues that occurred after the check. There is no right to work with children in the Church–that is, passing a background check does not entitle one to anything. In that sense, the checks are not “good” for any period of time at all. They simply do not have to be repeated more often than every 2-3 years.

You can send a formal letter to whoever is in charge of the league, so that there is a written record that they were made aware of the arrest and conviction. I don’t think they’re going to care whether the guy has ever publicly apologized, but they may care very much that he accepted a serious conviction related to fraud, even if he did not have to do jail time.

 

[jjgigem]

He faced felony charges and plead down to 1st degree misdemeanor charges. Basically, he had the $$ and the legal representation to get him out from under it in the best possible shape. He has never apologized to city council or the tax payers who got the bill for a two-year investigation.

A misdemeanor is usually not going to disqualify him if he lists it when they do a background check. I used to work in human resources. You would be surprised at the number of people that have misdemeanors on their record. The only time that we disqualified an applicant is if the misdemeanor came up on the background check and it was not listed on the job application.